Method and apparatus for performing session based conditional access

1. In a video-on-demand conditional access information distribution system comprising provider equipment for providing video-on-demand programs to subscribers via an in-band communications channel, a method comprising the steps of: establishing a session with a set top terminal including defining the in-band communications channel for transporting content to said set top terminal; communicating to said set top terminal, via said defined in-band communications channel, an authorization message and a descrambling message suitable for determining a descrambling key for descrambling a program stream; scrambling said program stream provided to a set top terminal via said defined in-band communications channel to produce a scrambled program stream; including, within said program stream being scrambled, video-on-demand content requested by said set top terminal; sending, prior to said set top terminal receiving said descrambling message and said requested content, said authorization message; storing said authorization message at said set top terminal; and deriving a descrambling key from said stored authorization message and the descrambling messages.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said defined in-band channel comprises a quadrature amplitude modulated (QAM) channel and said program stream comprises an MPEG transports stream.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: communicating to said set top terminal, via one of said defined in-band communications channel and an out-of-band communications channel, a de-authorization message, said de-authorization message being communicated in response to a session terminating event.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein said session terminating event comprises one of a session termination request being received from said subscriber and a period of subscriber inactivity exceeding a predetermined time interval.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said authorization message and descrambling message are communicated to a subscriber after said content is included in said scrambled program stream, said method further comprising the step of: repeating, for a predetermined period of time, said step of communicating said authorization message and descrambling message to said subscriber.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said conditional access information distribution system comprises an information on demand system.

7. In a video-on-demand conditional access information distribution system comprising provider equipment for providing video-on-demand programs to subscribers via an in-band communications channel, provider apparatus comprising: a conditional access system, for scrambling a program stream to produce a scrambled program stream; a session manager, for establishing a session with a set top terminal including defining an in-band communications channel for transporting said scrambled program stream to said set top terminal, said session manager including within said scrambled program stream content requested by said set top terminal; said session manager communicating to said set top terminal, via said defined in-band communications channel, an authorization message and a descrambling message suitable for determining a descrambling key for descrambling said program stream; and said conditional access system providing said authorization message and said descrambling message to said session manager, wherein said authorization message is sent prior to said set top terminal receiving said descrambling message and said scrambled program stream, said authorization message is stored at said set top terminal and a descrambling key is derived from said stored authorization message and the descrambling messages.

8. The provider apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising an information server, for providing said requested content to said session manager.

9. The provider apparatus of claim 7 , wherein said defined in-band channel comprises a quadrature amplitude modulated (QAM) channel and said program stream comprises an MPEG transports stream.

10. The provider apparatus of claim 7 , wherein: said session manager, in response to a session terminating event, communicates a de-authorization message to said set top terminal via one of said defined communications channel and an out-of-band communications channel.

11. The provider apparatus of claim 10 , wherein said session terminating event comprises one of a session termination request being received from a subscriber and a period of subscriber inactivity exceeding a predetermined time interval.

12. The provider apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising: a data storage module, coupled to the information server, for storing content.

13. A method for providing session-based conditional access to video-on-demand content, comprising the steps of: establishing a session with a set top terminal including defining an in-band communications channel for transporting content to said set top terminal scrambling a program stream provided to said set top terminal via said defined in-band communications channel to produce a scrambled program stream; including, within said program stream being scrambled, video- on-demand content requested by said set top terminal; and communicating to said set top terminal, via said defined in-band communications channel, an authorization message and a descrambling message suitable for determining a descrambling key for descrambling said program stream, wherein said authorization message is sent prior to said set top terminal receiving said descrambling message and said requested content, said authorization message is stored at said set top terminal and a descrambling key is derived from said stored authorization message and the descrambling messages.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising the step of: communicating to said set top terminal, via said defined communications channel and an out-of-band communications channel, a de-authorization message, said de-authorization message being communicated in response to a session terminating event.